Beamforming Devices and Methods

1. A device for receiving signals from a transmitting device, the device comprising: an array of N antennas receiving N signals, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to three; sampling circuitry for deriving digital data from the N antennas; a spatial filter for receiving digital data from the sampling circuitry; a spatial interpolator for receiving signals derived from the spatial filter and providing M interpolated signals using a Hermetic transform, where M>N, M representing a set of beams; and a selector for selecting one of the beams to identify a location of the transmitting device.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the digital data includes in-phase and quadrature data.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the sampling circuitry uses oversampling.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the interpolator applies a matrix based on a selected cost function.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein the spatial filter uses pre-stored matrices.

6. A device for receiving signals from a transmitting device, the device comprising: an array of N antennas receiving N signals, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to three; sampling circuitry for deriving digital data from the N antennas; a spatial filter for obtaining signals from a desired sector; a spatial interpolator for receiving signals derived from the digital data and providing M interpolated signals, where M>N, M representing a set of beams; a selector for selecting one of the beams to identify a location of the transmitting device; and a second spatial filter for receiving output signals derived from the spatial interpolator, and a second spatial interpolator for receiving the filtered signals from the second spatial filter and providing P beams, where P>M.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the antennas receive radiofrequency (RF) signals.

8. A method for receiving signals from a transmitting device, the method comprising: receiving N signals with an array of N antennas, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to three; sampling the signals to derive digital data from the N elements; spatial filtering for filtering sampled signals; spatially interpolating the N signals to provide M interpolated signals, where M>N, M representing a set of beams; and selecting one of the beams to identify a location of the transmitting device.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the interpolating includes applying a matrix based on a selected cost function.

10. A method for receiving signals from a transmitting device, the method comprising: receiving N signals with an array of N antennas, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to three; sampling the signals to derive digital data from the N elements; spatial filtering for obtaining signals from a desired sector; spatially interpolating the N signals to provide M interpolated signals, where M>N, M representing a set of beams; selecting one of the beams to identify a location of the transmitting device; and a second spatial filtering for receiving output signals derived from the spatial interpolating, and a second spatial interpolating for receiving the filtered signals from the second spatial filtering and providing P beams, where P>M.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the sampling includes oversampling.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the interpolating includes applying a matrix based on a selected cost function.

13. A device for receiving signals from a transmitting device, the device comprising: an array of N antennas receiving N signals, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to three; and a processor configured to: sample data from the N antennas, and use a Hermetic transform on the sampled data to form M beams, where M>N.

14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to select one of the beams to identify a location of the transmitting device.

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the received signals are RF signals received at a base station from a mobile device.

16. A method for receiving signals from a transmitting device, the method comprising: receiving N signals with an array of N antennas, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to three; sampling the signals to derive digital data from the N elements; and using a Hermetic transform on the sampled data to derive M beams, where M>N.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising selecting one of the beams to identify a location of the transmitting device.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the received signals are RF signals received at a base station from a mobile device.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the antennas are arranged in a cylindrical array.

20. The device of claim 13 , wherein the antennas are arranged in a cylindrical array.